Union Blasted for Distributing Flier Warning of Pedophiles at Disneyland

The union that represents Anaheim Disney Resort motel workers is being criticized for a flier being distributed to guests of the theme parks that warns, "Keep Your Children Close! Places Like Disneyland are a Magnet for 'Pedophiles.'"

"Has Local 11 gone too far?" begins a thread on Mouse Planet, a popular website that covers all things Disney.

. "And how much it's not about the workers they are supposed to represent. I would be appalled if a union that claimed to represent me did something like this."

Vincent-Phoenix got the following reaction from Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown: "Local 11's leadership has reached a new low with this reprehensible tactic, and they should be ashamed of themselves." Brown also noted, "Millions have visited and enjoyed Disneyland Resort over the years."

Anaheim Police Department's spokesman, Sgt. Rick Martinez, confirmed for Vincent-Phoenix that, "Local 11 did request and spent months going through public records" dating back to 2005 and constituting "tens of thousands of pages." But Martinez could not confirm the Unite Here flier's claim of police being called to Disneyland 64 times between 2005-2010 over "sex offenses."

Martinez also noted that category of cases could include reports of prostitution, indecent exposure and consensual sex by adults in public places. Areas around--but not inside--Disneyland have historically been magnets for prostitution and police sweeps. Martinez did not know how many incidents, if any, cited by Local 11 involved children under 14 or registered sex offenders.

Vincent-Phoenix asked Local 11 spokeswoman Leigh Sheltonfor specifics about the 64 incidents, whether the union had gone too far and how the spread of the flier will help the union resolve its ongoing contract dispute with Disney. "We don't have any comment" was Shelton's reported reply.

To be fair to Local 11, the union is not alone in having raised red flags about pedophiles and Disney theme parks. Here is a brief online sampling:

Cure Zone by A Hurley Girl: "Admitted Pedophile Sets Up Website" (which includes a story that discloses a Southern California pedophile lurks at Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm and the Orange County Fair)

Consortium News: "Why the Media is Soft on Wall Street" (which includes the accusation ABC News, which is owned by the same parent company as Disney, squashed stories on pedophiles at Disney theme parks)

One wonders how Local 11 would have reacted if the accused were members.

Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before "graduating" to OC Weekly in 1995 as the paper's first calendar editor. He has contributed as a freelance editor and writer to several publications and been the subject of or featured in several reports online, in print and on the radio and television. One of countless times he returned to his Costa Mesa, CA, home with a bounty of awards from a journalism competition, his wife told him to take out the trash.